Bolero to Go and Purse to Match

I set in the second sleeve in my Trio bolero last night, and was musing on why so many of us knitters abhor finishing work. I realized I put it off mainly because knitting goes along so much faster and much more mindlessly. I actually have to think about mattress stitching, and making sure I am keeping even pace on the two sides. I have done a lot of hand sewing over the years, even made a long dress with 12 buttonholes all worked completely by hand once, just to prove to myself that I could do without electricity. Somehow, sewing a knitted fabric always seems more daunting to me. I used to feel like a big-time procrastinator, but since I have been reading lots of other knitters' blogs this year, I find that I am certainly not alone.

Well, take heart everyone, I think that the finishing process is much like other aspects of knitting; it keeps getting easier. The Trio ibbon yarn in this project was not that cooperative to get a tapestry needle through; a tendency to want to hang up on splitting the ribbon instead of slipping easily under a stitch. I did one sleeve with a metal tapestry needle and the other with a plastic one, and the plastic one worked much better.

I also completely ripped out the purse I was making to match out of the leftover yarn. It was too wide, and I wasn't going to have enough yarn for it. I am back on track, but obviously was wrong in assuming that Trio would knit up to the same gauge as the Deco-Ribbon called for in the pattern.

It is a cloudy, grey day in the California foothills, and the temperature has dropped back down to the spring temps we usually get; put the sandals back in the closet for a few more weeks. At least I will have a bit longer to wear my sweaters.